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The Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For: RSM US #62 (2021)

Posted on by Jason Bramwell

When all was said and done, RSM US and its employees had a pretty decent 2020. The firm’s revenue increased nearly 11% over the previous year, RSM didn’t cut pay during the pandemic and doled out both raises and bonuses to employees, and RSM overtook KPMG as the firm most likely to give its capital market servants Omaha Steaks as a gift.

So it may not be too big of a surprise that RSM wound up on the F100BCTWF for the first time ever in 2021, coming in at No. 62. Here’s why RSM made this year’s ranking, according to the folks at Fortune:

The nation’s leading provider of audit, tax, and consulting services focused on the middle market, RSM US LLP (RSM) scores its first year on the list in which the firm stood out for exceptional employee support during the COVID-19 pandemic, including providing childcare support, increased PTO, and physical and mental health offers. “They have set up many ways for employees to get support through flexible work schedule options and lines to call for mental health issues, and management is genuinely open to directing people to the right resources in these tough times,” says one employee.

Not everything was rosy at RSM during the pandemic, however. The firm had not one but two rounds of job cuts. And according to a tipster, there has been a bit of a urine problem outside of RSM Plaza in downtown Minneapolis:

The sidewalk is the local urinal. Security refuses to do anything and people are exposed to penises almost daily.

This is a daily event. The problem has been ongoing for a couple years now. RSM refuses to do anything about it so the tenants and pedestrians have to hop between pee puddles. I thought I’d share some of the frustration of having an office in their building and being repeatedly ignored.

Pee puddles outside of RSM Plaza.

The last we heard the pee problem has not yet been resolved at RSM Plaza. But in the interim, RSM is trying to keep employee morale from going down the toilet. One RSMer on Fishbowl posted this about a month ago:

“RSM did a solid today. Paying out PTO bank and an extra $1k in the next pay check. My morale is on the up.”

And another RSMer commented:

“Basically doubled my annual bonus by doing this. Thanks Daddy Adams.”

Stats of note:

  • Employees: 13,000
  • Number of job openings: 1,494 (as of March 2021)
  • Number of job applicants (last 12 months): 85,200
  • Average number of applicants per opening: 16
  • Number of new graduates hired: 1,400
  • Percentage of women: 46.2%
  • Percentage of minorities: 22.4%
  • PTO limit (days): 21
  • Number of sick days: 23

RSM will make a really big deal of making the 2021 F100BCTWF in its recruiting of future RSMers, and even though they want you to really care about it too, I’m guessing those of you who are already members of the Adams family probably could care less.

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Layoff Watch ’10: McGladrey Makes Nationwide Cuts

Over the past month, we have heard lots about layoffs at RSM McGladrey/McGladrey & Pullen but we didn’t have much for details.

Frankly, we still don’t know a lot but we’ll go with what we’ve got. So far we know about reductions in the New York, Chicago, Quad Cities, Florida and Seattle offices and everything we’ve been told indicates that they are occurring elsewhere.


First the Emerald City:

I was ample. There is a new geographic restructuring going on. Instead of multiple “economic units” there will be only three regions. Many HRs and CFOs from different offices are losing their jobs. Consulting people talk about 100 positions that will be eliminated across the country. 10 people were let go from Seattle Economic Unit which includes Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia offices. We were informed about the reorganization somewhere around 04/12 and laid off at the end of the month. I think everybody received severance.

We’re not that familiar with past cuts in the RSM/M&P world but the big cuts in consulting seem to trail the Big 4’s by a year or two, although if some of these smaller clients are giving into the Big 4 lowballing then perhaps this is the natural progression.

Meanwhile:

Their Florida Private Club operations group closed the Club IT Consulting Group and layed off the staff. Some of the staff have been part of the firm for more than 20 years and were profitable.

Chicago just layed off the Operations Consulting Staff yesterday, [approximately] 10 people. This group was left to dangle in the wind, sink or swim on their own without marketing or sales assistance or access to the firm’s client-base Naturally it failed.

This firm’s actual layoff numbers are always reported low because they chase people out prior to layoffs in an attempt to camouflage the numbers. Their tactics to accomplish this include poor performance evaluations for staff, unreasonable margin requirements, constant peer pressure meetings regarding performance and head to head comparisons. This creates a dysfunctional relationship between groups and actually motivates groups within their own company to compete with one and other. Only so much people can take and then they leave. Just what the firm wanted.

Considering the economy in Florida, the demise of RSM’s private club operations in that corner of the over-leveraged world wouldn’t come as much of surprise. That being said, you might expect that veterans of the firm would be accommodated somehow with other internal opportunities.

As far as the “chasing” this is Jack Welch’s magical forced ranking method that the Big 4 has accepted like its own creation.

We reached out to both RSM’s corporate spokeswoman and their general counsel, both of whom have not responded to our request for comment. We also contacted an H&R Block spokesman to see if they could elaborate on these layoffs from the parent company level but again, our requests have gone unanswered. H&RB had their own layoffs last month however, there is no indication at this point whether cuts at H&RB would have anything to do with those at RSM/M&P.

We’re still accumulating details on these cuts, so get in touch with us about details on your office or discuss below. And don’t be shy, we know you McGladrey types been hesitant to call on us in the past.